Blood of Mathias
by Tjin
Summary: Written from a plot bunny i got from a godsmack Video
1. Chapter 1

Anyanka, Patron of scorned women and vengeance demon for well over a century opened the door carefully to the smiling man.

"Do you need something or do you always knock on people's doors for no reason?" she asked bluntly as the man continues to smile.

"Are you Anya Jenkins by any chance?" he asked and smiled as she nodded. "Excellent, I have a message for you from a mister Giles, umm… a Rupert Giles?" he clarified as she continued to stare.

Thinking about it a moment Anya stepped back carefully and opened the door "What would that… "She trailed off as she noted the ring on the mans hand.

Before she could scream his hand came up and she felt her lungs start to fill with fluid.

As the world started to fade out she wondered where a Teraka had managed to find one of Halifrek's curses.

Smiling to himself as he walked down the hall he wondered again at his good fortune in finding an almost forgotten contract this close to his base of operation.

Idly playing with the ring on his hand the Teraka Assassin wondered what had happened to the other three that had taken the job before shrugging it off. If they weren't able to take down the target then they had no right calling themselves Teraka.

Though he had to wonder why the eldest insisted on going after this Harris boy.

--

Xander groaned in his sleep as he dreamed about sand and blood.

Over the years the dreams had become more and more frequent as he started to fight beside Buffy.

As it always did the dream ended with him lunging onto a spear.

Waking in a sweat Xander blinked to clear his vision.

And rapidly wished he was dreaming.

Rolling as the dagger flashed down, Xander fell off the bed and collapsed in a heap on the floor. Fighting his way free of the sheets he dodged back as the man sliced again.

Kicking the bundled sheets at the stranger, he took the moment of distraction to tackle the man.

Wrestling for the weapon, Xander finally forced it out of his hand before plunging it into his attacker's chest. Gasping for breath for a moment the young man finally started to feel a pain in his side. Looking down to the rapidly reddening shirt in shock before a single thought dominated his mind, 'Anya'

Leaving the cooling corpse behind him, Xander stood as a wave of dizziness washed over him and left the bedroom in a rush. Stumbling towards the front room he momentarily wondered why he was loosing feeling in his extremities before he saw her lying near the front door.

Dropping to his knees beside her as the world started to swim, Xander wondered how he was going to find a joke now before darkness claimed him and he passed out as the poison from the assassin's knife finally took hold.

--

Slowly opening his eyes he watched as light after light passed by in front of him and he distantly heard a conversation nearby.

"Will he be okay?" an oddly familiar voice asked as he focused on a redhead and blond walking beside him.

"We don't know until we start a blood transfusion, we need to get the poison out of him as fast as possible." An unknown voice responded before a third interrupted from a person he couldn't see.

"Do you know this young man?" the third voice asked as the redhead nodded in confirmation. "Would you mind telling me why he was found in his apartment with a dead woman we can't find any records for before '99 and a dead man with a knife in his chest?" the voice asked snidely and Xander idly thought he disliked this new voice. Before he thought anything else the blond and redhead disappeared from view.

By the time Willow and Tara had managed to deal with the detective Xander was already being treated and they were not allowed past.

--

There was sand.

That was the only thing he saw as he slowly turned around until he was quite sure he had done more than one circle. He couldn't tell for sure because everything looked the same as far as the eye could see.

He had a name, he was sure he had a name.

As he fought desperately to remember even that tiny sliver of himself he finally noticed something different. She was there.

Where before there had been only sand, now a woman was slowly walking towards him. As she approached he was sure he knew her from somewhere before.

When she finally reached him he stared for several minutes before he was able to speak.

"You're here." He said simply though he had no clue where 'here' was.

"I have always been here Alexander; you merely needed to find me." She responded before looking up as the sun was eclipsed. "It is time Alexander; you must find your ancestors and help them… or be lost in the sands of time." She warned.

Looking up Xander saw a huge black scorpion blotting out the sun.

As he faded away Cassandra smile slowly and things were set in motion. "The prophecy is upon us." She whispered before fading away as well.

And only the sand remained.

--

Xander started awake and for a moment he couldn't place where he was, until the steady beeping of the monitor brought back the memories in force.

Slowly closing his eyes he felt a hot tear burn its way out of his eye before sliding down towards his ear and being soaked up by the cheap hospital pillow he was lying against.

As the damp spot continued to grow he found he couldn't muster the strength to care.

--

Willow carefully stuck her head in the door and smiled sadly as she saw Xander sitting up and poking at the food on his tray with a fork.

"Xander?" She said cautiously as her lifelong friend continued to stare at his food.

"She's dead isn't she." He stated more than asked before looking up at Willow again. "I slept as she was killed." He said before looking down at his food again. "I slept as she was murdered." He whispered again, more to himself.

"Xander you can't say that." Willow said as she sat on his bed carefully to avoid his injured side. "You can't blame yourself for Anya's death anymore than you can for Buffy's." Willow trailed off as she saw Xander slump a bit more. "Xander you can NOT blame yourself for Buffy's death." Willow intoned as she tried to keep him from slipping anymore than he already had.

"Why not." He growled as he threw the food away forcefully. "I failed Anya because I was asleep, I failed Buffy because I wasn't fast enough to stop her. I failed Kendra because I wasn't smart enough to see the trap until it was too late. I failed Miss Calendar because I wasn't brave enough to stand up to Buffy and make her stake Angelus. And I failed Jesse because I wasn't strong enough to stop them from taking him." He finished before a sharp pain on his cheek forced him to stop in shock.

Willow glared through the tears in her eyes as she tried to keep herself from slapping Xander again. "You listen to ME, Alexander Lavelle Harris." She growled as Xander stared at her, too shocked from the hit to respond. "Jesse died because an insane master vampire decided he was hungry. Miss Calendar died because Angelus saw her as a the only one that could return his soul. Kendra died fighting Drucilla who had already killed TWO other slayers. Anya died because an Assassin decided to take up a contract on our heads from our high school years and Buffy died to Save the WORLD!" she all but shouted before lowering her voice to a much more dangerous hissing whisper. "So don't you ever let me hear you talk about them like it's your fault again or so help me God I will make you wish you had never heard the word Twinkie." She said before her words caught up with her.

Watching as her hair slowly turned from the black it was to a much more recognizable red Xander tried to process what she had said. "Did you just threaten a snack cake?" he asked in confusion as his oldest friend collapsed in the chair beside the bed and held her face in her hands.

"I had such a great rant going against you too." She mumbled from around her hands before looking up at him again "Sorry for slapping you." She apologized as she saw the red imprint her hand had left.

Rubbing his cheek carefully Xander let his regrets slide back behind the mask he had worn for so long before shrugging off Willows apology. "No problem wills, I'm sorry for brooding like Angel there for a bit."

"You could never brood like Angel, Xander." Willow said with a laugh as she leaned over to hug him "You don't have the hair." She whispered before a thump behind her drew her attention to the door. Eyes widening in alarm at the sight, "Tara!"

--

Tara walked in and smiled as her girlfriend leaned over and hugged Xander carefully.

It wasn't until Xander hugged back that she saw the large black Scorpion tattoo on his hand moments before her eyes rolled back and she passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

Xander sat rubbing his hands together, staring at them intently until he was startled out of his thoughts by a familiar British voice.

"A quiet Xander? Good lord the world is ending." Giles said with a smile before the sadness slipped into it as he saw the level his surrogate son had fallen to.

Xander looked up at the father figure of the Scooby's with a shrug, "How's Tara."

Giles sighed as he sat next to Xander's bed and slowly massaged the bridge of his nose. "She hasn't made it past simple vowel sounds yet." He said before returning his glasses to his nose and sighing. "They have her sedated now, Willow's staying with her."

Nodding Xander went back to staring at his hands. "They won't tell me when the funeral is, every time I ask they say I need to rest."

"Xander I- ." Giles stopped to gather his thoughts before continuing. "Alexander, the poison you were infected with w-was unlike any poison the doctors had ever seen." The watcher said before rallying his strength for the next words. "You were unconscious for over two months, they buried Anya several weeks ago."

"That's how Willow knew it was Teraka." He whispered and accepted Giles' nod.

Thinking about it for several minutes Xander finally rallied the courage, "I'm leaving when they let me out of here Giles." He said quietly before looking up at his surrogate father. "I just need to get away for a while and…" he paused to regain his composure. "I want you to stay and watch out for Dawn, she won't understand and she really needs a friend right now."

After several moments, Giles finally nodded.

(Two Weeks Later.)

Xander threw the last piece of luggage into the back of the truck Giles had bought as a going away present, having argued with the older man for close to an hour before he had finally been convinced to take the gift.

Turning back to the assembled group he smiled slightly before shrugging at their faces, "Why are you all looking like you'll never see me again? I'm just going on a road trip… what's the worst that could happen?"

"Floods." "Fires." "Vampires." "Bug Ladies." "Possessions." "Zombies." "Dragons." "Frankenstein Monsters." "Insane Gods." "Love Spells." "Sacrifices." "Spiders crawling all over your face." "Clowns." "Mummies." "Miss Kiddie's Fabulous Ladies Night Club." "Cross Dressing Karaoke Demons"

Xander stared in shock at Giles after the last before clearing his throat carefully. "Umm… Something you umm… wanna tell us Giles?"

"Get your bloody mind out of the gutter." Giles growled before pulling Xander into a hug. "Stay safe son, or I swear I'll find a voodoo priest to bring you back so I can kick your arse."

"I will Giles." He promised before turning to Dawn "Hey Dawn." He smiled at the red eyed Summers girl before leaning down to hug her.

"I wish I was going with you." She mumbled against his shoulder as she hugged him like she was never going to see him again.

"Wish you were too, Dawn-Patrol, but you have to stay and finish up school." He said before stepping back so he could see her. "And just think, in three years you may have a non-explosive graduation." He said before hugging her again. "And then I'll show you everywhere I went on my road trip." He promised.

Smiling she looked up at him from the hug. "Even that Miss Kiddie's place?"

"Only if you can convince Giles to chaperone." Xander said as Dawn looked back at the watcher as he slowly shook his head.

"Not even to keep the seal of Solomon secure." Giles stated bluntly, shattering Dawn's dreams of Xander in a thong.

As Dawn moved off in an attempt to change the Watcher's mind Xander turned to the last of the Scooby's.

"Willow I…" His carefully prepared speech was interrupted as the redhead stepped into a hug.

"I know why you have to go Xander, but please come back." She whispered before stepping back with a smile. "I don't think I could get through Charlie Brown's Halloween special without your snoopy dance."

Xander smiled again when his attention was drawn down the road to the figure slowly approaching.

"Tara?" he whispered drawing attention to the blonde.

"Tara are you okay?" Willow asked as the small group focused on the new arrival.

After several minutes to work up the courage she finally responded. "I… I need to go with you, Xander."


	3. Chapter 3

Xander looked over at Tara again and debated trying to strike up a conversation before shaking the thought off.

It had almost been two days since he and Tara had left a reluctant Willow back in Sunnydale and to this point Tara had hardly spoken two words to him.

"Why didn't you ever tell them?" Xander nearly jumped out of his skin at the soft question from his passenger. Looking over at Tara Xander wondered what she was talking about.

"The dreams." She explained carefully as Xander nodded in understanding.

"Ah, well the soldier dreams don't happen very often and I can mostly ignore them." He said before turning back to the road.

"Not those dreams." Tara said before taking a deep breath to steady herself. "The dreams of the sand and blood and… and the scorpion."

Slamming on the breaks Xander pulled onto the shoulder in a flurry of dust and gravel before twisting around to stare at his passenger. "What do you know about that." He demanded as Tara forced herself not to cower against the far door.

Taking a deep breath she set herself to deliver a story and a message from centuries in the past. "Six thousand years ago there was a race of giants that controlled a large section of land." She explained, as she silently prayed he wouldn't interrupt. "They were wiped out by a great army and their cities were pulled down to the last stone, their writings burned and any mention of them was wiped from the land. All were killed save two sons of a great lord."

Seeing him about to interrupt Tara cut him off as she continued. "The sons of Anak were both mighty warriors. The eldest founded his own family, built on keeping his line strong. They were the Anak'Kim, the last of that line was killed with the fall of Goliath and his brothers at the hands of the Israelites."

"The youngest son founded his family on staying hidden and striking their enemies from the shadows. They were the Anak'Adeans, after many generations they were reduced in stature to that of mortal man, though still extremely strong and powerful, they hired themselves out as mercenaries and assassins."

As the years went on they moved further and further away from their roots, eventually taking up the name of the Acadians, but through treachery most of them were slaughtered in their sleep. The last three recorded Acadians were Jesup, Anthos and Mathias. The three were hired to kill a sorceress working for the Emperor Memnon, one of the first men to claim that title. But they were betrayed and Jesup and Anthos were killed. Mathias escaped and managed to unite the free tribes and bring about the fall of Memnon taking his throne and the sorceress as his wife."

Taking a moment, Tara then continued. "This is who you dream of, Xander. You see after the fall of Memnon the sorceress gave birth to a son, a son of which almost nothing is written. Several years after his birth the sorceress Cassandra was sent to Egypt to broker a deal between Mathias and the Pharaoh, along the route she was waylaid and stolen into slavery. On hearing this Mathias left his kingdom in the hands of one of his few trusted friends and marched to war on Egypt."

"After Eleven years of fighting he was repulsed at the gates of Thebes and he and his forces were driven into the desert." She slowed for a second before shaking the thought off and continuing. "So, consumed with vengeance he sold his soul to Anubis, so long as he could have revenge on his enemies. He was given command of the army of Anubis, he returned to Thebes and slaughtered the entire population before disappearing."

"Xander, when Cassandra was taken as a slave she had one last prophetic vision before she killed herself. She said the son of Mathias would rise to free the souls of both her and her love, and he would be known by the mark of his ancestor, the mark of the Scorpion King."

Nodding at the witch for several seconds he waited for her to continue. "Aaaand?"

With a sigh Tara took his hand and slowly passed hers over it while mumbling in Latin, a large black scorpion tattoo appeared on Xander's hand. "Xander, you are a descendant of the great Emperor Mathias and you have within you the blood of the Scorpion King."


	4. Chapter 4

"Whoa Whoa whoa… back up a second there, I'm a who what of what when?" Xander said as he tried to wipe the black scorpion from his skin. "I-I can't be this Scorpion guy… I'm the Zeppo." He argued more to himself then Tara.

Laying a hand on his arm to calm him Tara slowly allowed a small amount of magic to seep into him, calming him slightly and letting him listen to her.

"Didn't you ever see that you never were the normal one?" Tara said as Xander finally looked up from the tattoo. "Willow said you were the first one to find out about Buffy's calling and the first to help her in any way possible. You were attacked by Miss French she took you and a football player and she choose you over him." She said before continuing without giving Xander a chance to protest. "The Hyenas chose YOU as Alpha, You forced Angel into the Masters Lair to save Buffy, you held onto your Halloween possession longer then anyone, and according to Willow when the Order of Teraka was first sent against you the two youngest followed through on the orders as fast as possible while the oldest and most powerful attacked you directly, even turning his back on his fellow assassins and their contractor to try and kill you."

"He was just…" Xander tried When Tara cut him off with a look of resolve not even Willow could challenge.

"He attacked you because he knew who and what you are." She said before she continued. "You stood up to Angelus, Drucilla and Spike and lived to tell about it. You were the heart of an enjoining spell and you fought a psychic battle against the primal force of the Slayer spirit and even Dracula realized some of what you were." She explained as Xander looked at her quizzically. "He used all of his mental powers to bend you to his will and instead of using you as a weapon H-he tried to humiliate you."

Staring at her for several seconds Xander finally sighed in defeat, this on top of everything else was just too much.

"Give me a few days to think on it, okay Tara." He whispered and started the engine back up when he heard her affirmative.

--

(I think you should put the "Nevada Two days later" line up here instead of down there where you have it.)

Xander stared dully as the numbers on the pump scrolled endlessly onward.

With a click the nozzle shut itself off and Xander headed inside to pay, smiling as Tara looked up from the magazine she had been reading she dropped a few dollars on the counter behind Xander as the two walked back towards the truck.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead as he hurried his pace a bit to get back to the truck's AC Xander glanced down the road they were headed down and stopped.

She was there.

Stepping toward the form, Xander stared at her in shock before he found his voice. "It's you." He stated as the sorceress Cassandra smiled.

"You know your heritage Alexander, believe in it." She whispered to him as a slight wind picked up.

Looking towards the wind for a moment Cassandra turned back to him with a smile. "Seek you heritage Alexander, it shall lead you where you must go."

--

Nevada.

Two days later.

"Xander." Tara yelled slightly louder then she had intended as Xander finally snapped out of the trance he seemed to be in. "You had another one didn't you." She stated more then asked and smiled at his affirmative nod. "They're trying to tell you something, Xander and it's best not to ignore the spirits." She said as they finally climbed into the truck. "What did she say this time?" Tara asked as Xander started the engine and stared back in the direction he had seen her.

"She said to 'follow my heritage' whatever that means." He said as he still kept the vehicle in park.

Letting him think about it a moment before folding the magazine she had been reading and dropping it in his lap Tara pointed to the main story.

'The Scorpion King: Fact or Fiction.' Written by an Alexander O'Connell.

Growling to himself as he read the story Xander finally flipped to the back and after looking up the address pulled the truck out of the gas station and headed back the way they came.

"San Francisco, just freaking great." He grumbled as he tried to ignore the small grin on Tara's face.


	5. Chapter 5

Xander listened to the speech with half an ear as he watched the older man that spoke with such conviction he was half-way convinced O'Connell had actually met Mathias.

Shaking his head at the preposterous thought, Xander turned his attention to the others at the convention.

Older men mostly, guys Xander was quite sure Giles would get along with.

"I'm telling you Jason that my grandmother's will leaves a detailed explanation of the journey and says this 'Thatch' character actually remained there." One voice was saying before the voices where swallowed by the crowd's volume increasing to an almost growling sound.

Turning to Tara he nudged her slightly. "What happened? I missed it." He hissed as several voices started to shout at the older man on the podium.

"Doctor O'Connell refused to turn over the journals of his parents, he said that no one would find the city of Hamanuptra again if there was any way for him to stop them." Tara explained as one of the louder individuals stood up and started shouting at the top of his lungs about the rights of the research community for several seconds before running out of breath at the piercing gaze of Alexander O'Connell.

"Mister Jessup, as much as I would like nothing more for you personally to find the city I will not give ANYONE the notes to find it, and if by chance one of you do, I pray you have the wisdom to run away from it as fast as you possibly can." The older man said with a look of ice at the belligerent archeologist for several seconds before looking down at his notes again.

"You said again," One voice stated from the back of the room. "Do you mean that your parents did actually find it?" the voice asked as the room quieted in anticipation of the answer. At Alexander's nod the voice rose over the hushed murmurs of the crowd again. "What did they find?"

As the older man looked at the crowd carefully, Xander could see the pain and fear wash over his features for a moment before he pushed them back.

"Evil, Doctor Jones, they found evil." He stated before closing his book and clearing his throat. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today, thank you all for coming and please enjoy the exhibits."

Looking to the back of the room Xander saw a man who looked to be in his late sixties stand and walk out before everyone else.

As the room slowly cleared Xander walked towards the small group of Giles-ish men surrounding Doctor O'Connell in hopes of getting a word with him.

--

Outside a man slid into a van. "He's there, most of the humans have left, we hit them now." He growled as a section of his skin peeled away to reveal rotting flesh for a moment before he slid the fake skin back in place. "Make it look like a robbery and he was grabbed as a hostage, grab two or three others as well."

Around the back of the van several forms nodded as they finished up their makeup, those who had rotted too far simply slid masks on before the half dozen undead rushed the museum.

--

Xander sighed in relief as the last of the egg head researchers finally left the seventy odd year old archeologist with promises to see him the next time he visited the city.

Tapping Tara on the shoulder he nodded his head in Doctor O'Connell direction before heading towards him, Tara half a step behind.

He was six feet away when the exit doors flew open spilling eight armed men into the museum.

The few remaining people in the building looked at them in shock for several moments before the spell was broken by two words.

"Everybody FREEZE!"


	6. Chapter 6

Blood of Mathias 6 

Xander could not figure out how he had gotten stuck in this situation.

The day had been nice and quiet. There were no abnormal mystical problems on the horizon and he had been sent to the San-Fran museum to try to speak to an old bookworm by the three thousand year dead spirit of one of his ancestors. This is where he had been kidnapped along with said bookworm in what had to be one of the saddest robbery cover-ups he had ever seen.

Okay, so he could see how he'd gotten in this situation, but it didn't make him like the idea of being blindfolded in the back of a van any more then he liked the faint smell of rotting flesh. And how sad was it that he knew the scent of rotting flesh from memory.

Ignoring the implications of that smell, Xander instead focused on testing the knots binding his hands together.

--

An hour later, Xander's wrists were raw and his butt was sore from sitting on the hard metal floor of the van when it finally came to a halt.

As the back doors were jerked open, he ignored the urge to growl as he and the other 'hostages' were manhandled out of the van. Once more he blessed whoever was watching that the robbers had passed Tara in favor of one of the older men.

Finally being shoved upright, Xander ignored the pins and needles sensation in his leg as the circulation flowed freely once more after sitting in one position for to long.

"What is this? I asked for one man and you bring an entire collection." A voice snarled as Xander tried to place where he had heard it before.

"Sorry boss, you said grab a couple to make it look random like." The voice of the first thug said in a quivering voice. "You said that…" The rest of his words were cut off as the familiar sound of a sword clearing its scabbard was succeeded by the equally familiar sound of steel cutting through a neck before the heavy 'thump' of a solid object flopped to the floor nearby.

"Idiot! I know what I asked for, I intended for you to leave their bodies somewhere discreet along the way." The voice snarled at the now headless individual on the floor nearby.

With an exasperated sigh, the voice seemed to pace for a few moments before turning to the survivors of the band.

"Take off their blind-folds. I want to at least see who I have, perhaps one of them may be worth something." The voice said before Xander's mask was pulled off.

"Mr. Smyth, what is the meaning of this?" O'Connell said in outrage as he glared at his fellow archeologist.

"Mr. O'Connell, do shut up. I have need of you for the moment, but do not test my patience or I will do away with you and proceed on my own." The uptight arse from the convention growled before turning to Xander and the third kidnapped individual.

He took a step back in shock before recovering with a glare at Xander's co-captive.  
"Doctor Jones, what an unexpected and unwanted surprise." Smyth growled as he reached for his sword again. "At least I'll have the chance to finish you myself."

"TRAPS!" Xander blurted out as he desperately looked for a way to delay his death.

Stopping in confusion everyone looked at him as if he'd just announced the sky was blue.

"What are you shouting about, whelp?" The older man asked with a snarl, as he gripped his sword tightly.

Taking a deep breath, Xander tried to figure that question out himself. "Seems to me that whatever you're looking for, it's probably in some old tomb or crypt or something." Xander said as he glanced around at the books and scrolls scattered about. "Well everyone knows those places are filled with traps and curses and it seems you recruited your minions from the shallow end of the cess-pool. Me and Mr… ummm…" he paused as he desperately tried to remember the other man's name.

"Jones." He hissed quietly, which earned him a glare from Smyth.

"Yeah Jones, me and Mr. Jones will be cannon fodder to figure out a way around the traps." He finished in a rush.

Thinking it over Smyth reached down and grabbed Xander by the front of his shirt and jerked him up. "Do you really think I don't see this as a ploy to allow you to live?" Smyth asked with a sneer.

"Of course it is. Because you know what? I WANT to live."


	7. Chapter 7

Considering it a moment, Smyth returned the sword to its scabbard. "Very well, you get to live… for the moment, but make no mistake that should you cross me I will enjoy the many hours it will take you to die."

Resisting the urge to stick his tongue out at the prick, Xander turned to his follow captive. "So how do you know the jerk and why didn't you kill him when you had the chance?" he whispered as the older man continued to stare at the overly large man in a white suit.

"I thought I did, he was on a boat in the middle of the Atlantic about sixty years ago, the boat exploded and Sank, I thought I was the only survivor." The once mighty adventurer whispered as he continued to stare at the man he had thought dead for the last sixty years.

Thinking about it a moment Xander leaned back towards him. "Next time try cutting his head off." The young demon hunter suggested and shrugged at the older mans incredulous look. "What it always works…" he trailed off before mentioning the recently deceased slayer. "On TV." He finished and glared as the man looked at him as if he were insane. "What? He comes back from the dead, doesn't seem to age and carries a sword. What do you want me to think?" Xander defended before looking back at the man that seemed to be leading the group of Zombies.

Beside him Indiana Jones wondered if the kid knew more than he was saying about the situation they found themselves in, or if he was simply one of the few people crazy enough that they kept a calm head on thier shoulders when faced with the supernatural.

"Great, a murdering psycho from my past, a crazy kid that won't shut up and zombies… I hate zombies." Indiana said before taking a deep breath and looking for the brighter side of life. "At least there aren't any Nazis." the Archeologist muttered to himself before going back to attempting to solve the riddle of how they were supposed to escape.

--

"Thank you Miss MacLay? As a key witness to this crime we ask that you not leave the city for the next few days in case we need to contact you for more information," The Police officer said before handing the shy blond a business card with his contact information on it. "If you can remember anything else, please contact me here?" He finished with a reassuring smile. "And don't worry about your friend, we're going to be doing everything in our power to get him back safely."

With a nervous nod, Tara accepted the card and allowed the officer to escort her from the building.

Standing outside the museum, she avoided the Media storm as best she could by ducking down one of the multitudes of small side streets.

Reaching what she considered a reasonably safe distance, Tara slowly let her magic seep out as she sent out a light pulse and closed her eyes as the feedback of nearby magical entities imprinted themselves within her inner eye.

Discarding half a dozen of the nearby magic points as being too weak to be what she needed, Tara focused on one of the three remaining magic sources and smiled as a similar pulse washed over her from her new destination.

Tara didn't know why Xander had been kidnapped, but she did know one thing for sure.

The descendants of the Scorpion King were always 'Over Enthusiastic' when angered.

--

Tara entered the small shop and smiled as the scents of moss and pine washed over her, here she knew she would find someone that could help her.

Looking around, the young witch took note of the multitude of plants growing as an old man in simple homespun clothes tended them.

Looking down at a sound, Tara nodded to the large grey tomcat that seemed to be a collection of scars that would do any ancient Spartan proud.

Bending down, she stroked the scarred feline as he purred happily at the attention.

"Brawk."

Looking up at the sound of the grey tom's squawk, what might be considered a meow, the older man smiled at Tara warmly. "Greetings Earth Daughter, what brings you to my humble shop." The man asked in a voice filled with wisdom.

Looking at him, Tara was momentarily stunned by the pure simplicity of his aura before bowing low to him. "Blessed be, Wise Father, I come on an errand of peace as I try to find a lost friend."

Rubbing his hands together to rid them of the soil he had gathered on them, the man looked at Tara carefully. "I doubt Battle Axe would be quite as interested in you if you were walking into a peaceful situation." He said before squaring his shoulders. "My apologies Earth Daughter, My name is Michael and the war scarred old veteran at your feet is Battle Axe." He said simply before taking a tall staff from where it rested on the wall.

"Battle Axe?" she asked carefully as he rubbed against her legs begging for more attention.

"It is who he is, I have never understood people's need to force names on animals who already know who and what they are." Michael said as Tara tried not to think of what she had named her own cat.

Ignoring her inner musing, Michael walked towards the back of the store as Battle axe finally abandoned his post at Tara's leg and followed him dutifully towards the back.

Or more likely, towards his food.

"Well tell me about this missing friend of yours and we shall see what we can do about it." Michael said as he opened the door to the back room filled with all the workings of the Arcane.

--

(A/N) Well that's another Chapter down, here's hoping the muse keeps beating me over the head with a pole-axe.

Anyways, this was written out after a horribly long day at work with little or no sleep the day before.

Any problems with the story can be blamed on this… well for this chapter at least.

-Tjin


End file.
